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Vayechi
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Vayechi

THE RIGHT BLESSING Simchat Torah night in Czarist Russia was an occasion not only of great joy but also great anticipation. The custom in some communities was to auction aliyot for sections in the Torah that were going to be read in the course of the coming year. It was the time of the Czarist...

Vayigash
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Vayigash

PUBLIC HERO VERSUS PRIVATE HERO The interaction between Judah and Joseph at the beginning of the parasha, sets the scene for two prototypes of greatness: the Judah-type and the Joseph-type. The public tzaddik and the private tzaddik. When, as a result of Judah’s impassion pleas, Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers, he does so...

Miketz
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Miketz

PHARAOH IN DENIAL One of the major concerns posed by global warming is rising sea and river levels. Only this week, flood provision in the Norfolk Broads was declared seriously inadequate and major problems will occur unless preventive measures are taken. By contrast, the economy of ancient Egypt was governed by the annual overflowing of...

Vayeishev
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Vayeishev

TORAH DREAMS This week, instead of telling you about someone who had dreams in the Torah, I am going to tell you about someone who had dreamed about a Sefer Torah! In the video version of this message, I am standing in front our open ark right by our largest Sefer Torah. It towers over...

Vayetze
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Vayetze

HEAVY LIFTING One of the most striking visual images in the Bible is found in the second portion of this week’s parasha. Jacob arrives at Charan. He sees shepherds gathered at a well with a large boulder covering its opening. He notices that they won’t be able to remove the rock themselves, until more shepherds...

Toledot
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Toledot

DON’T BE A PHILISTINE To call someone a philistine today is to label them as indifferent to culture and the arts. [The usage seems to have originated from a conflict between the cultured university students and the townspeople in 17th century Jenna, Germany.] The original Philistines are referred to in this week’s parasha. We encounter...

Chayei Sarah
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Chayei Sarah

LIVING THE GOOD LIFE The first verse of our parasha seems unnecessarily repetitive in its use of the word,‘years’: “And Sarah’s lifetime was one hundred years, twenty years and seven years, the years of Sarah’s lifetime.”(Bereishit 23:1) Our major commentator, Rashi (d. 1105) makes an observation that, at first glance, strains credulity. He says: The...

Vayera
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Vayera

JONATHAN SACKS’ LEGACY This coming week, on 20th Marcheshvan, is the first yahrzeit of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, z”l. At shul we are holding an evening of learning, music, and words of inspiration in his memory this Wednesday, 27th October.  Please join us in this tribute to him. He passed away on the Shabbat of...

Lech Lecha
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Lech Lecha

ABRAHAM AND SARAH’S DISCIPLES When Abram and Sarai came to the land of Canaan, they didn’t come by themselves. They arrived with Lot, Abram’s nephew. They arrived with all their possessions. Then the verse adds: “and with the souls they had made in Charan.” (Bereishit 12:25.) Rashi (in his second explanation) observes that the straightforward...

Noach
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Noach

AVERTING THE FLOOD At the end of this month the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, will be held in Glasgow. Postponed from 2020, it is regarded by many as possibly the last chance the world has to take coordinated action on the threat of climate change. The biblical precedent for a world-wide climate crisis...